Comic Book Moments We Need To See In DC's Animated Injustice Movie
The "Injustice" comics, based on the popular video game of the same name, are the latest DC Comics series to get an animated film adaptation. While few details have been released about the project so far, the movie will have a lot of material to draw on. Apart from the video games that started the series, the "Injustice" comics have been published every year since 2013.
The series tells the story of an alternate world, one where Superman has gone rogue following a personal tragedy. The Man of Steel has decided that the only way to bring about permanent peace in the world is by forcing conformity and discipline upon humanity. To that end, Superman becomes a tyrant, gathering a cadre of like-minded former heroes and villains who believe in his cause and support his dictatorship.
Opposing Superman's forces is Batman, along with a few other heroes and villains who stand against the dictatorship. The "Injustice" comics are known for not pulling any punches when it comes to showing the descent of Superman and his allies into darkness. The comic series features many memorable scenes that deserve to be a part of the upcoming movie adaptation. Here are 14 such scenes, one that we hope to see in the film.
When Aquaman Incurred Superman's wrath
Since his inception, Aquaman has been the butt of jokes in comic book circles for his supposedly "lame" powers. But the 2018 film "Aquaman" movie starring Jason Momoa proved just how much of a badass Arthur Curry could be. As the ruler of the Seven Seas and the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, Arthur commands all the oceans of the world — and the creatures living in them.
"Injustice: Gods Among Us" #12 gave fans a scary glimpse of that power, when Aquaman refused to bow down in front of Superman's new world order. In order to remind Superman of his power Aquaman sent his forces against the Justice League. This included the mythical kraken, thousands of soldiers of Atlantis, giant sea creatures, and all manners of other threats against the surface world.
It was an impressive display, and one Superman battled back against by picking up the entire city of Atlantis and depositing it in the middle of the desert. With his subjects about to die from lack of water, Aquaman had no choice but to yield.
When Superman asked Batman To Be His Baby's Godfather
The soured relationship between Superman and Batman is a fundamental narrative of the "Injustice" series.
"Injustice: Gods Among Us Year One" #1 builds a contrast by depicting the good old days between Superman and Batman, before everything went to hell. Opening with a scene that occurred before the Joker blew up Metropolis with a pregnant Lois Lane in it (causing Superman to go mad with grief), Superman informed the Dark Knight that they wanted him to be the child's godfather. For a rare moment, we saw Batman's smile, leading to the two super friends sharing a rare moment of happiness.
As it turned out, that moment would feel all the more tragic knowing what the future had in store for their fractured friendship. It's a powerful sequence, and one that could start the film with a moment of heartfelt sincerity.
When Alfred the butler threw down with Superman
As one of the strongest beings in the universe, there's not a lot someone can do against Superman in a physical fight. Which is why Batman is careful to never engage the Man of Steel directly without setting a few traps of his own. But one time, Superman was in no mood to fight Batman long enough for the latter to spring any traps. Fortunately, the Dark Knight still had one ace up his sleeve, his faithful butler Alfred.
In "Injustice Gods Among Us" #36, Superman was enraged that Batman had managed to find and steal a pill from his Fortress of Solitude that grants its user super strength. The Man of Steel broke Batman's back — causing Alfred to enter the fray, having eaten the pill and gained temporary super strength.
What followed was a brutal beatdown, as the unsuspecting Superman was kicked, punched, and pummeled mercilessly by Alfred. Once Superman was lying prone and defeated on the ground, Alfred picked up Batman and left, remarking that "There's nothing worth saving here."
When Superman showed how far he had fallen
While reading the "Injustice" series, Superman fans could not help but hold out hope that at some point the Man of Steel would finally see the error of his ways, and go back to being Earth's greatest hero that we know and love. As new installments of the story continued to be published, it became steadily more clear that this version of Superman had gone too far beyond any possible redemption.
One of the earliest indicators of this was when Superman agreed to start working with supervillains to establish his dictatorial regime. One of the first villains to join the regime was Sinestro, the Yellow Lantern. In "Injustice: Gods Among Us: Year Three," Sinestro abducted Detective Sprague and took him to the Hall of Justice. There, Sinestro threatened to hurt his family if Sprague did not tell him where Batman had been hiding along with his allies.
Sprague genuinely did not have the information that Sinestro was trying to get, but that didn't stop him. When Superman arrived at the Hall of Justice, he allowed Sinestro to continue to torture Sprague, even though he knew the Detective knew nothing. It was at this point that readers realized Superman no longer believed in the ideals of justice and compassion he had once sworn to uphold.
When The Justice League took on the Gods of Olympus
The members of the Justice League are often compared to the Greek Gods in terms of their power. But the actual Greek Gods also exist in the DC Comics Universe. In "Injustice Gods Among Us Year 4," we saw Superman's allies come into direct conflict with Zeus and the rest of the Greek pantheon due to some judicious meddling by Ares, God of War.
The fight between Superman and Zeus itself was pretty short. Zeus backhanded the Man of Steel across the room, showing just how severely overmatched Superman was against the God of the Sky. Once Superman realized he has been played by Ares and some other villain, he raced off to nip the problem in the bud.
But the problems with the Greek Gods did not end there. Wonder Woman took the rest of Superman's allies and led them into battle against the Gods. For a while, the League held its own against the Greek Pantheon. But in the end, it took the intervention of Superman and Izaya the Highfather to finally put an end to the conflict. In retrospect, it is one of the few times that the "Injustice" version of Superman has been so completely humbled by beings that far outstrip him in power.
When Superman Hugged Lex Luthor
As long as Superman has been in the public eye, Lex Luthor has been his ultimate arch-enemy. Luthor's motivations for hating Superman might change, his areas of interest as a businessman might change, but one thing that remains constant is that Luthor will always be trying to bring down the Man of Steel.
Which is why one of the most bizarre moments of the "Injustice" series was when Superman was relieved to discover that Luthor had escaped the destruction of Metropolis. In fact, Superman was so happy that he picked up Luthor in a bear hug — because in this universe, Luthor never turned to a life of crime, but became an ally who helped Superman protect the world with his technology.
What made the scene even more poignant was that it is one of the few times we saw this version of Superman genuinely happy and caring unselfishly for someone else. Adding to this pathos, the happy reunion was extremely short-lived, as we soon learned Luthor had aligned himself with Batman's rebellion. Once again, Superman and Luthor found themselves in opposition — but now, the Man of Steel is the villain and Luthor is the hero.
When Superman exposed Batman's secret identity
Batman's secret identity is one of the most closely-guarded secrets in the DC universe. That information is so top-secret, in fact, that even most members of the Justice League are not aware that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Superman is often depicted as one of the few allies who are privy to that information.
But once Superman turned evil in "Injustice," that privilege became a liability. At first, Superman was intent on convincing Batman to join him, but as he realized that wasn't going to happen (and that Batman planted a spy in their midst to report back to him about the Regime's actions), Superman retaliated by starting a live broadcast from the Justice League satellite, exposing Batman's identity.
While the Dark Knight succeeded in cutting the lines of communication between the satellite and the rest of the world, it didn't stop Supes — who used Cyborg as a living computer to post "Batman is Bruce Wayne" on social media. Just like that, the secret Batman had worked so long and hard to protect was no more, forcing Bruce Wayne to go into hiding.
When Superman envisioned Batman killing Joker
The events of "Injustice" are kicked into gear after Superman takes the life of the Joker, following yet another horrific crime committed by the Clown Prince of Crime, revealed to be much more sane than he pretends. After Superman killed Joker, he embarked on an increasingly dictatorial spree, while still claiming he was a good guy doing what had to be done for the good of mankind.
Subconsciously, Superman comes to believe that Batman would have handled killing Joker better than him. In "Injustice Gods Among Us Year 3" #14, Superman was placed in a dream world, where he imagined what would have happened if Batman had been the one who had killed Joker.
According to Superman's imagination, Batman would have immediately turned himself over to the police, serving his full time in jail. In this dream scenario, Batman got out of jail, became a public figure like his father, and was happily married to Wonder Woman. Clearly, Superman believed that Batman had the mental fortitude to not allow one death at his hands to become many, no matter what the provocation.
When Superman fought an entire living planet
As Superman plotted his rise as Earth's new dictator, a number of powerful beings attempted to take him down. Some of the most powerful new enemies that Superman made were the Green Lantern Corps.
Armed with the most powerful weapons in the universe — the green power rings — the Lanterns attempted to subdue Superman with their combined might. But it wasn't enough.
As we saw in "Injustice Gods Among Us Year 2" #24, the Lanterns almost managed to take down Superman (with significant help from Ganthet, one of the Guardians of Oa, and Mogo, an entire living planet that serves as a Green Lantern), but when he got his hands on a Yellow Lantern Ring powered by the fear of everyone on Earth living under Superman's regime, the tide turned.
Fueled by his new power as a Yellow Lantern, Superman overpowered both Ganthet and Mogo, depositing them into the heart of the sun. Making matters worse, Superman had already torn through most of the remaining Green Lantern Corps, and did not care that the whole world now saw him as someone to be feared.
When Superman took a page from Homelander's book
The Amazon Prime series "The Boys" has been embraced for its dark, twisted take on superhero stories. The character of Homelander, in particular, is meant to be a villainous pastiche of Superman and Captain America. In one episode, Homelander dreamed of using his laser vision to slaughter a crowd of civilians who displeased him.
In "Injustice Gods Among Us Year Five" issue #16, Superman made that nightmare a reality. By that time, the people of the world had started to grow restless under the Man of Steel's tyranny. A few citizens even banded together to create an armed insurgency to oppose Superman, invoking the name of Joker as a symbol of their resistance.
When Superman found out, he was beside himself with rage. The underground meeting place where a group of 200 or more insurgents were gathering to discuss their options was invaded by the Man of Steel. When the group started chanting Joker's name right in his face, Superman lasered them all dead.
When Superman's parents were disappointed in him
Superman's chief guiding force throughout his life has always been his relationships with those he cares about. At the top of that list are Superman's adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, and birth parents Jor-El and Lara. One of the biggest indications that "Injustice" Superman had become evil beyond all reason was when he made it clear that even the entreaties of his parents would no longer move him away from his dark path.
In "Injustice Gods Among Us" #34, Green Arrow snuck into the Fortress of Solitude to find a pill that could grant humans super strength. Superman confronted Green Arrow, killing him over the perceived betrayal. That's when Jonathan and Martha tried to talk sense to Superman, imploring him to stop hurting his friends. But a maddened Superman could only fume about how Batman was behind all the betrayals.
Even the appearance of Jor-El did nothing to calm Superman down. He flew off in a huff to deal with Batman, leaving his parents behind in the fortress. Martha apologized to Jor-El for failing to raise Superman properly, while Jor-El expressed regret over unleashing such a person upon the world.
When Wonder Woman broke Superman's arm
Superman and Wonder Woman are generally considered to be among the most powerful and popular superheroes that DC Comics have to offer. In most cases, Superman is shown to have more raw strength and speed. But Wonder Woman is a better fighter, with a tactical mind and a willingness to go to any lengths to win a fight.
In "Injustice: Gods Among Us Year 4" #8, the Gods of Olympus intervened in the war between Batman and Superman. Under orders from Zeus himself, Diana had no choice but to fight Superman on Batman's behalf. Superman, meanwhile, was so invested in winning that he never considered the fact that he was battling the woman who had stood with him from the start of the story.
So, the two mighty beings clashed in a violent tussle as the Gods and the Justice League looked on. Superman had the upper hand at first, thanks to his strength — but Diana turned the tables by breaking his arm. Superman kept on fighting, but it was clear that he was going to lose. If it were not for an unexpected interference by Sinestro, Superman's rampage would have been ended by Wonder Woman right then and there.
When Wonder Woman turned evil
In the "Injustice" series, we see well-known characters making some very unexpected choices. Superman's descent into villainy has some explanations provided for it, since the story begins with Joker blowing up Metropolis with Superman's pregnant wife in it. This horrific event convinces Superman that the only way to peace is through a dictatorship.
On the other hand, we don't get to see a lot of explanations as to why Wonder Woman is so loyal to Superman's violent new regime. The Amazonian heroine had always been someone who valued peace and compassion above all else. So why was she so eager to see Superman take over the world and establish a new order that punishes heroes and villain and civilians alike?
One important piece of explanation is provided in "Injustice: Year Zero" #14. It shows that during the days before Joker took down Metropolis, the League had the opportunity to kill him. Diana really wanted to, but Superman and Batman stopped her. That was the start of Diana's discontent with the League's pacifist ways.
Declaring that Superman and Batman would be responsible for any more people that the Joker killed — which, of course, happened — this version of Diana was on board when Superman finally couldn't take it anymore, pivoting to a more violent, proactive route to establishing peace.
When Superman met the true Superman
As horrific as the actions of "Injustice" Superman are, fans can take comfort in the fact that he is not the true Superman that they have grown up reading and loving. At long last, in "Injustice: Ground Zero" #24, the real Superman arrived to finally deal with his evil counterpart.
The story was told through the perspective of Harley Quinn, as she gleefully and repeatedly pointed out how the new Superman was what "Injustice" Superman had long ago stopped being; Someone who inspired hope and strength, not fear and intimidation.
Even as "Injustice" Superman desperately tried to fight back, it soon became clear that his counterpart was stronger and better prepared for a fight with an equal. The fight ended with a flurry of punches that left "Injustice" Superman on his knees. Appropriately, it was Batman himself who delivered the finishing blow, and the dark days of Superman's tyranny finally came to a conclusion. Until, of course, the events of "Injustice 2."